Machine for assembling shoes



March 12, 1935. R. GOULD MACHINE FOR ASSEMBLING SHOES Filed Jan. 1'7, 1953 IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY.

. in several respects.

Patented Mar. 12, 1935 mm eA- i F' C 1,994,216 7 v MACHINEJROH ASSEMBLING' snoEss RichardGould, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Municipal Shoe-00., Inc;, Brooklyn, N Y., a corporation of New York Y Application January 1 7, 1933, Serial Nm 652,110

-' '2 Claims; 7 (01. 12-7) This invention relates to the manufacture of pre-Welted shoes and consists of amach'ine and the stepsofthe method for assemblingpre-welted shoes. V V

The; usualv method of'makingpre-welted shoes is to first stitch a weltito a'vamp; The vamp is then appliedztoth'e last, to .the' sole of which has beenapplied an'insol'e. The=vamp is then drawnov'er they last with the aid of. hand tools and the vamp is tacked to. the insole and last. A.

considerable. number of tacksmust beused to holdthe vamp evenly in position. Prior to'these operations the. leather has been treated or ternpered. to render it pliable. After. the vamp has been tacked. the partly assembled shoe must be allowedto. stand for several hours until theleather sets. The'tacks are then drawn and the outsole applied to the shoe. I

The above-described method is. unsatisfactory the number of steps involved, particularlythe. steps of tacking and; removing; the tacks. Furthermore a great dealof time is; lost in:waiting; for the leather, toset. Whenv the welt-is stitchedv to the vamp a running loop-stitchis ordinarily used. In the tacking operation, if atack is. in-

advertently driven through the stitch, the stitch 1 will be cut and will unravel, and thewelt will come away from the vamp.

Therefore the object of this invention isto provide a method; of assembly to, eliminate thesteps of tacking and removing the tacks andthedelay in applying the outsole. v

. A further objectiof the invention is to'provide a machine to beused in the assembly of pre-;

welted shoes to eliminate severalhand operations.

nated; therebyremoving the danger of cutting the stitching with a tack.

A further object of the invention is to provide a machine to force a pre-welted vamp over a last.

A further, and more specific, object of the invention is to provide a pair of co-operating forming members to completely surround a last and force a pre-welted vamp evenly over the last.

The invention consists of the combination, construction, arrangement of parts and the steps of the method, as herein illustrated, describe and claimed. 7

In the accompanying drawing, forming part hereof, is illustrated one form of embodiment of the invention, in which drawing similar refer- It is expensive byreason of ence characters designate corresponding parts,-' and, in which: J s

Figure 1 isa side elevationpartlybrokenaway;

Figure, 2 isa rear elevation showingxthe con-.-.. struction illustrated on the right handsiderof; Figural; f

Figure 3 is anenlarged fragmentary detail Sin: vertical section showing, the jaws'ofthe machine.- in closed position; and;

V Figure Lisa planview of the formingmember s:

or jaws. v

' Referring to the drawing, 5 designates a base.- on which is carried an anvil 6 provided:with as vertical horn '7.v An extension:8 supports a pair; of friction rollers 9 over which rollersis passed: a vwire loop-'10. The; wire loop; 10 is connected; to a pedal 11 foroperation, as hereinafter ole-- scribed. l

Disposed on the horn 7 is a last 12 on which-is; disposed an upper or vamp. 13. A welt 1,4.is stitched to thevamp-13 with thefinishedsurfaces of'the vamp 13 and the welt 14 in ,aface-toface relation. On the'sole portion of the-lastl2; is placed an insole l5. and a filler sole lfiladaptedi torreceive an outsole 17. as. hereinafter described: All of the parts above described are of common' construction and are wellknownin-theart;

A pair ofplates 18' are'secured1 in spacedrelationloy= bolts 19 andare. secured by bolts 20 ;to a: sub-base; 21 disposed on thebase' 5. A pairsof. complementary bell crank arms 22 are secured; by pivots 23-between the platesla near the upper endthereof. A spring'24 iscarried by hooks. 25 disposed'on the lower portion of the arms-22.. to normally. maintainthe lower portion ofthearms 22, close together and thus-maintain the upper ends of ;the arms 22 separated.

Carried by the upper'ends of the arms.-22.ar apair of complementary plates 26. The-plates- 2,6 .aresecuredtothe arms 22. by studs 2'7. Each: plate 26 is provided with a dowel 28 adapted to enter a recess 29 in the opposite plate to insure proper alignment of the plates 26 whenthey are brought together as hereinafter described. The center portion 30 of the plates 26 is cut away to provide an opening having the contour of a sole. The portions 31 of the plates 26 adjacent the cutout portions 30 are-reduced in thickness so as to provide a relatively thin but not sharp working edge.

The arms 22 are provided with rounded faces 32 on the lower part thereof, which faces 32 are disposed in the path of movement of a rounded upper end 33 of an actuating head 34 disposed between the plates 18. The head 34 is carried by a guide block which rides in a slot 36 in one plate 18. The guide block 35 carries an operating rod 37 which is connected to a second pedal 38 so that when the pedal 38 is depressed the rod 37, block 35and head 34 will move upward. The upward movement of the head 34 will separate the lower part of the arms 22 and bring the upper part ofthe arms 22 with the plates .26 together.

In the assembly of the shoe the insole 15 which carries the filler sole 16 may be placed on the last 12 and may or may not be temporarily secured thereto with a tack. A vamp 13 with the welt 14 i already stitched thereto is then placed on the last 12 and the last 12 is placed on the horn 7 of the anvil 6.

The wire loop 10 is placed around the vamp between the vamp 13 and the welt 14 and upon operation of the pedal 11 the wire 10 is tensioned and draws the toe portion of the vamp 13 over the last 12. If desired the use of the wire loop 10 may be eliminated and the toe portion drawn over in a preliminary manner by hand.

If the'loop 10 is used, after the toe portion has been drawn over the last 12, the loop 10 is slackened and dropped and the pedal 28 is operated to bring the plates 26 together. The edges 31 of the plates 26 will engage the vamp 13 and the Welt 14 adjacent the line of stitching which holds the vamp and the welt together. If desirable, the Welt 14 may be turned away from the vamp 13 by hand so as to present a larger space between the vamp and the Welt for the entry of the edges 31 of the plates 26. As the pedal 38 is moved further downward the edges '31 of the plates 26 will ride over the last 12 and force the vamp 13 and the welt 14 to the position shown in Figure 3. Since the plates 26 entirely surround the last 12 and the edges 31 are shaped to conform to the shape of'the last, the vamp 13 will be forced over the last evenly at all points.

While the plates 26 are maintained in closed position the welt'14 is straightened out if thisbe necessary; If the welt 14 has been turned up by handbefore the plates 26 were brought together it is necessary to again smooth out the welt 14 and the edges 31 of the plates 26 serve as an anvil for this purpose. If a'tack has been used to secure the insole 15' and the filler sole 16 to thelast 12 such tack is'now removed since the vamp 13 and the plates 26 hold the insole 15 firmly in by the outsole 1'7. The shoe is now ready for the stitching or any other desired finishing operation. The time necessary to assemble a shoe with the use of the hereinbefore described machine is much less than the time necessary to assemble the shoe by hand. As will be readily seen the use of tacks to hold thevamp to the'insoleand last. is eliminated so that the steps of applying the tacks and removing them is ,eliminated, together with the danger of a tack inadvertently cutting the Stitching between the vamp and the welt. 7

When a shoe is assembled by the ordinary method the welt is rough and uneven byreasonot being pulled over the last by hand tools, and the shoe must be subjected to a further machineop- 'eration to smooth out the welt. With the use of the machine described herein the welt is not roughened and it is therefore unnecessary to' smooth out the welt again except to lay'the welt over if it has been raised to permit the entry of the plates 26. If this be necessary, it is done at the time the outsole isapplied and does 'notrequire a separate operation.

The invention is-not limited to the operation of the operating rod 37 and the 'wire 10 by their respective pedals. It is contemplated that the moving parts may be motor-driven. I

The invention is not limited to the use of two plates 26 since the object of the invention is to f provide a' plurality of plates 26 to. entirely..-.sur-. round a last. Forinstance, a third plate 26 may would be varied so that the third arm 22carrying' the toe plate 26 would operate slightly in-advance of the side plates 26 in order to'force-the toe portion of the vamp over the last-in advance-of the' side portions of the vamp.

Having thus fully described the inventiomwhatis claimed as new and desired to be securedby" Letters Patent of the United States, is:

. 1. A pre-welt shaping machine comprising sup-'- porting means for a pre-welt shoe upper, a flexible device arranged to engage a curved end por'-" tion of the shoe upper at the welt, mechanis'n'i fo i'f I operating said device, and substantiallyinflexible' shaping members operative to'engage'and shape the inwardly curved side portions of the shoe:

upper at the welt.

2. A pre-welt shaping machine comprising a" support for a pre-welt shoeupper, a flexible shaping device having a curved portion for engaging and shaping a curved endportion of the shoe upperat the welt, and plates having curved edges adapted to engage and shape the curved side at the welt;

portions of the'shoe upper I 1 RICHARD GOULD. 

